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We understand that sometimes there are billing problems outsideyour control. If this happens, you have time to fix the problem! 14 days to be exact. Accounts on hold due to billing problems have 14 days to fix the problem. During this 14 day period access is blocked but you will immediately return to FC Insider status upon fixing the payment problems. If the billing problems are not fixed within 24 hours, but fixed within 14 days, the system will charge you the pro-rated difference after you reactivate your account. This is not an additional payment/penalty since your billing date will be pushed back to the date when you reactivated your account. After 14 days the subscription is treated as “broken”, access cannot be restored and all credits and/or access to FC Insider are lost. To regain the FIRMSconsulting Insider status, a member will need to activate their Premium subscription and remain an active Premium subscriber for another 6 consecutive full months after rejoining.

We are not going to be Ogres about the 14 day rule. If it takes a little longer we understand and will try to be reasonable. Just don’t dissappear for a month. That’s not cool!

Once granted FIRMSconsulting Insider status, a member will remain within the elite Insider group as long as they remain a Premium member in good standing: by not breaching FIRMSconsulting’s terms and conditions, values and expectations of professionalism at all times.

As a complimentary program FC reserves the unconditional right to make any changes, without notice, including, but not limited to, adding and removing programs, changing access conditions and discontinuing the loyalty program.

FIRMSconsulting reserves the exclusive, unconditional and non-negotiable worldwide right to deny an eligible member access to FC Insider for any reason. However, such action is usually related to a member no longer maintaining their good standing (see above).

I want to understand how the Apps and access will work once I become an FC Insider?

Excellent question! The easiest way to do this is to think of Netflix with a splash of Amazon Prime. Like Netflix we are a subscription-based program. Like Netflix, you can watch as much as you want, when you want to and how you want to. Like Netflix you can download content to your App and create your own lists. Like Netflix the system remembers where you finished watching and you can continue watching between the App, Apple TV and the website. Like Netflix we are constantly adding content with >3,000 episodes CURRENTLY available for Insiders. Like Netflix we have an enormous pipeline with >1,000 NEW episodes coming out. We already have another 500 additional episodes being planned and this keeps growing.

We will keep launching many changes this year and going forward, at no additional cost. Longtime members get access to additional content, our best content. FC Insiders are also the only eligible members to apply to our 1-on-1 coaching services.

What if I invest to become an FC Insider but FIRMSconsulting.com shifts focus from FC Insider to something else?

FC Insider is 2 yrs 3 months old. You can see our laserlike focus on this loyalty program through these milestones:

– Launched the first App in 2016 – Built new improved Apps and a new website in 2017 – Launched on Apple TV + Roku in 2017 – Built an additional 2 Apps for Bill Matassoni memoir + The Bill Matassoni Show in 2018 – 18 programs exist exclusively for FC Insiders – An additional > 12 new programs are being developed just this year – 1,092 episodes of content are queued for editing and release – Launched the “21 Day” format so clients can see results faster – Most new shows are shot in HD or 4k

In 2 yrs and 3 months we have built this loyalty program significantly. FC Insider will also continue to be the flagship of FIRMSconsulting. We have not revealed all the changes coming to FC Insiders because we do not want to create expectations we may not be able to meet due to delays. Everything we plan takes time to execute. We have no intentions of reducing our focus on FC Insiders, as this is our core group. If anything, the FC Insiders loyalty program is our primary focus ALONG with coaching. We believe it is only right to invest heavily in our most loyal members.

Why must I become a Premium member and wait 6 months to become an FC Insider?

You do not have to but it will be wise to choose to do so! Insider is a reward for loyalty. Before we had FC Insider, Premium members would join and receive immediate access to TCO and EP programs on the site. After we launched FC Insider that did not change. Premium members still receive immediate access to TCO and EP. So, we simply added another layer on top of this. It is rewarding long time Premium members with new, more advanced content and platforms. However, little has changed for Premium members. This is important to understand! As soon as you join you will gain immediate access to TCO and EP. Yet, after 6 months you receive access to additional more powerful content, other initiatives and more advanced new platforms.

Like any loyalty program, members need to do something to earn the loyalty reward. In our case, it is being a Premium member in good standing for 6 consecutive months.

And the six months time delay may be too short. It is not possible to master all the Premium content in less than 18 – 24 months and you need to watch that content to make the most of the more detailed programs in FC Insider. So the 6 months delay does help you. Given the amazing training programs available to Insiders, some clients tend to jump too fast to the advanced content and struggle since they lack the base skills. Those 6 months give you time to develop your core skills and really benefit from the Insider content!

What are the new FC Insider programs planned for release?

This is exciting. We have many cool things happening. This is just a sample and there are others:

– Competitive Strategy with Kevin P. Coyne. – Advanced Competitive Strategy with Kevin P. Coyne. – How to Become a McKinsey Partner. Revealed for the First Time. – The only advice that matters: that which McKinsey partners offer their own children. Amazing! The partner’s daughter is in the shoot – Fundamental Problem Solving as Taught by a McKinsey Partner. – The Bill Matassoni Show: Season 2 with new insights. – How Partners Sell >$5M Engagements: it’s not about insights. – How to start, build and profitably run a boutique firm / smaller office of a large firm. – How to Find Powerful Mentors that Matter. – TCO 4: Assel, Francisco & Haris. – TCO 5: Rithika, Sizan & Dylan. – …and there is much more coming

Will older programs be updated or refreshed?

Of course. Our programs are in-depth with some consisting of over 600 episodes. So there is definitely more to come with existing programs. The following programs will continue to receive new updates

Whoa! Hold on there. Thanks for the vote of confidence in our ability to ramp up, but we release 5-8 new episodes of content a week on average. That amounts to between 260-400 episodes of in-depth, exclusive and advanced training approximately 30 minutes/each in length released per annum. Some are 1.5 hrs in length. That is a lot of new content. If you JUST became Insider today and started going through all the programs we already published it will take a long time. It takes time to watch, understand and apply everything we teach. For example, the Tech Merger Strategy Study where we teach the basics of how to run ANY engagement is ~280 episodes and takes most clients 1 full year to watch and start applying. Andrew’s journey in learning to sell multi-million dollar engagements is only on episode ~200 of about 600. Our goal is to get our clients to take action and see results. That means watching carefully and deliberately. Binge watching does not work when it comes to learning. Trying to watch everything in 2 to 3 months is not even possible and not recommended. Clients who try this typically miss key insights, miss out on their social life and do not learn the thinking approach we teach.

Most of the content is not relevant to me. What do I do?

If you want to be successful and move ahead of the curve, the content is for you. Here are just a few reviews for the StrategyTraining.com App for Insiders. There are many more similar reviews we receive, that stand as a testimony to the advanced training and real impact of the programs. You will see that we have a wide variety of clients. Things work best when clients share our strong value system and commitment to solving tough problems that matter to the world.

All the content is relevant to everyone if you really think about it! If you are in industry or a partner in a boutique firm, a banker, research PhD etc. you may want to ignore the case interview training. Yet, you need to know the basics of calculations, building frameworks and solving problems before you can tackle the advanced material in Insider. In fact, in one episode Kevin Coyne mentions that the main assumption he makes in the Insider content is that viewers have the basic problem-solving skills taught earlier. If you do not have those skills, the Insider content is a little harder to understand.

Think about the Andrew program. It is about building an innovation practice at a major professional services firm. You would likely ignore this if you do not care about innovation nor work at a professional services firm. Yet, to become a partner one must be able to sell between $4MM to $15MM worth of work. The program with Andrew is about how we taught him to sell. It is a program about sales and it is incredibly detailed with ~200 episodes loaded so far and more to come. It just so happens to be set in the innovation function for a professional services firm but the skills are relevant to every single subscriber. The biggest mistake clients make is jumping into the advanced Insider content too soon. It will just not make much sense without the foundational skills. Its like taking the most advanced MIT course on aerodynamics, taught by a star professor, but without first learning calculus. You will not understand everything, you may not enjoy it much and you will probably not get the greatest return for your career.

Every program we teach has three parts: (1) We must teach some technical/functional skill like strategy, sales, operational improvement etc. (2) It must be set in some sector like mining, banking etc.so we can discuss the details to make the program realistic. (3) It must be set in some part of the world to show you how to manage the communication. So if you see a program called “Entering the US Banking Market”, remember it is a market entry program and it does not matter if you are not in banking. As long as you can learn from one of the 3 areas you are fine. And everyone can learn from one of the 3 areas. And even if you do not care much about market entry in the USA for banking, it is still extremely valuable to see how we structure, plan and execute analyses, manage the client, write up slides, conduct focus interviews etc. There is incredible value but you just need to have a plan to learn. Figure out what you want to learn, locate it and then focus on it. If all that fails, start with the Tech Merger Study. There is nothing like that program anywhere in the world. Without understanding the skills in that study, the Market Entry Study & Corporate Strategy & Transformation Study will be very hard to grasp. Those two are more advanced. In other cases clients just want to learn the IT strategy approach, for example, taught in that program. I get why that may be the case. Yet, we truly want you to succeed in the long-term. It is far more effective to learn the underlying way we think so that you can develop your own approaches. If you do not learn this, you will spend a large chunk of your life searching for the best approaches. We recommend taking the time and learning to think like us.

Does the App work in every country?

The Apps work in all countries where US companies are allowed to do business by the US Commerce Department. That is all but a handful of countries worldwide.

The price is high for me. May I get a discount?

I get it! I was born in the emerging markets and could barely afford KFC for lunch. I had to count my change to buy food and even then it was only the mash potatoes I could afford. While we fully appreciate individual circumstances, and value every single client, we believe quality education is an investment, and we measure value and not the cost. We only work with ex-partners and our training programs are extraordinarily detailed to the point that consultants from McKinsey and BCG use them extensively. Our content is unique and effective. Lowering our prices reduces our ability to invest in such training programs. In the long-term, everyone loses with this approach because we lack the resources to produce better training. When looking at the price, we believe comparing the ROI is more important than the costs. Members who diligently use our training show great progress in their careers. In fact, our subscription programs are already subsidized heavily by our coaching programs.

Will prices increase after subscribing?

No! We do raise prices but existing members always have their prices locked-in.Your subscription price will only change if you cancel/stop your subscription or if there will be a billing issue not resolved in a timely manner. In that case, you will need to resubscribe at the increased price.

All our subscription programs are heavily subsidized by our coaching service. Shooting in HD and/or 4k, around the world, with talented partners, with innovative new shows takes a lot of time and other resources to prepare, shoot, edit etc. Shows are planned years in advance and prepared over years. The Andrew program was done over 3 long years. The Apps and new training programs we are planning/working on are even more advanced. We are trying to get our pricing in line with the level of care and quality we currently offer and want to offer in the near future. Based on feedback from clients, the returns more than make up for the costs. We hope the above information answers your questions. If you have questions about this offer or FC Insider not covered in this email please do not hesitate to reply to me directly.

Life, like strategy, is a matter of choices we make. At the end of the day you will need to make the right choice for yourself. I know that if I had access to FC training earlier on in my career I cannot even imagine what a difference it would have made in my career and life. I would have done everything possible to become an FC Insider. Yet, I can see the difference it makes for long-term FC clients every day and can confidently recommend that the Premium membership/FC Insider status is an investment that truly makes a difference, if you are willing to put in the work required. If you have doubts, see what clients likeBill Gracasay about the benefits of FC Insider. An interesting fact is that most FC Insiders are multi-year clients in that they have been clients for many years.

Why was Firmsconsulting Insider created?

This is about rewarding the extremely loyal members who helped create and build Firmsconsulting over the last 8 years. This is for standing with us as we built a values-based business. The content released within Firmsconsulting Insider is unique. Firmsconsulting is very fortunate and very grateful to have had a loyal group of clients, many of whom have followed us since the very first year. We started with just one client and through referrals created the firm that exists today. We have for a long time thought about a way to reward extremely loyal clients. This led us to create a special loyalty program called “Firmsconsulting Insider.”

Comments

26 responses to Firmsconsulting Insider

Thanks for being a loyal member! You will gain Insider access once you have been a Premium member for a full 6 months. So on the minute you are billed for the start of the 7th month, you can login into StrategyTraining.com and our Apps. You will have full access to everything there (and most of our programs are in Insider) and as long as you remain a member, everything that comes out.

Great program and I very much enjoyed all the podcasts and all the videos I’ve watched so far. I have a question regarding the Insider Program. I’ve been a premium member since early Sept 2017, and I was wondering how you measure the 6 months, in terms of billing periods or payments? When will I have access to the insider’s material? I really look forward to those.

Thanks. We do not publish estimates on release dates since we routinely encounter problems which force us to move them either back or forward. Sometimes we encounter no problems but choose to prioritize one program’s release over another. That said, we plan to release the series this year.

We have many big changes coming to FC Insider this year and the Titans of Strategy is just one of them.

There is no release schedule for FC. We did have a schedule for FC Insider.

We removed the FC Insider release schedule since we do not follow it. We release 45-50 new episodes into FC Insider each month (about 550 – 600 episodes a year) but we decide which programs will be released in that time. All programs will be released within the year as originally presented but not necessarily in the original order. We also have new programs coming out and we sometimes push them ahead of the existing programs.

Thanks for the note and I am very pleased to see you progressing so well. Congratulations.

The short answer is, yes, all full studies will be made available to EP members immediately upon their release.

This raises the question of whether they are being duplicated in FC Insider, or what exactly is coming out in FC Insider if the full studies are appearing in EP. They are not being duplicated. The material is different. I explain this above but happy to explain it again.

First, as you can see our studies are incredibly detailed. We aim to produce as realistic as possible studies from the perspective of the partner leading the team all the way to the detailed calculations done by the business analyst. This means the studies take time to be completed, scrubbed, formatted for videos, produced, recorded, checked, uploaded and released. A small study takes 1 year to be released and a larger study like the Power Study takes 3 years. We are only in the first year of the Power Study so that means it will take about 2 years to complete releasing that study. We hope it happens faster, but lets assume a worst case scenario. Since we only work on one study at a time and we release studies consecutively that means it will be 2 years before the 4th study is released, 3 years before the 5th study is released, 4 years before the 6th study is released! And that assumes they are small studies taking 1 year to release. They are not!

That is a long time to wait, but unfortunately quality takes time.

Second, given the enormous details in our studies, we find some members can benefit from different explanations. The power points and videos in EP show you the final and very close to final drafts. They do not show you the messy and very iterative process that goes into the thinking before a consultant commits things to slides. I typically spend a week thinking about the problem before committing anything to paper. You do not see the sequence of thoughts that led to insight x. You do not see the alternative silly options we had to eliminate to get to the preferred set. You do not see the weeks of drafts, bad ideas, good ideas and formation of the study structure and how we think these things through. You see the final product or at least one version of the preparation that goes into the final idea. In the powerpoints it is hard to explain how I was able to pierce together 5 concepts to arrive at idea z.

Seeing how we arrive at the very clean and pretty charts is important, but we show a little of that in EP. We often say you need to be MECE. But, how do I go about coming up with these structures from nothing? What roadblocks do I face and how do I overcome them? How do I manage problems on a daily basis, week by week and night by night?

To solve the 2 problems above, we have come up with the following solution.

On each study, the partners record daily updates explaining how each analyses on each day was done, why it was done and all the problems faced and how they where overcome. These are real time recordings and they explain the slow process of how we connect the dots. The full study videos list the insight but do not explain all those tiny connections we make to get to them. This material we DO NOT include in the study power-points and videos. Let me explain this with a different analogy.

Think of a perfectly edited book. You read the final edits, and hopefully love them, but you do not see the process used to produce those edits. These detailed explanations we keep are like the process leading to the edits. They explain how we think in far more granular detail. If you want to know how a partner builds ideas from nothing and manages countless problems, these recordings for the study capture them.

It is these recordings that appear in FC Insider. They serve the purpose of releasing the full study much earlier, giving you time to think about and even use the ideas, before we release the power points and videos. They also serve the added purpose, and to me, the more important purpose, of allowing you to think like me. The key thing is that they are the complete study but from a more in-depth perspective to complement the EP version.

My advice is to switch to FC Insider if you want this detail. Moreover, I would say you stand to benefit enormously from the Promotion: Partner in 3yrs and the new series we are launching shortly, not to mention all the other programs coming out in Insider. We teach you, in extreme detail how to set goals, manage teams, build teams, motivate people etc. These are important skills to learn and you can follow us as we help real executives manage this process. We go into great depth on how we think things through in these series. In many ways the content in FC Insider is more detailed than in the other programs. When we set up FC Insider the goal was to avoid having frivolous complimentary material.

Another example is to think of Times Insider in the NYTimes. In the normal NYT subscription you can read an article about Uber. In Times Insider you can listen to the journalist discuss why he did the article, the problems he faced, how he overcame them, how he built his analyses, sourced the story and more. In the normal subscription you learn about Uber, but in Insider you learn how to do what the journalist did to arrive at the Uber article.Now, our studies are already very detailed, but there is another layer of thinking and insights that sit there. For example, is big data racist? That is something we think about in great detail but it never comes out in the final study in EP since it was not relevant to the final client. But it was relevant to our thought process and we capture that in Insider. It is a big, big series of discussions which delve into statistics and math to answer a pretty important question. This is one example of the many critical discussions that we explore in the FC Insider version of the study: why we decided to have the discussion, how we structured them and how we came to a decision. The full studies do not show them at all.

In summary, if you want to think like me and go through the messy process and dead-ends I encounter as a partner, then use FC Insider. If you want to see the final, or close to final product, and try to reverse engineer the critical thought processes that lead to the final analyses and results use EP and TCO.

I’ve been an FC Executive member for about 1yr 2mth now and have been working through your EP ppt’s. In the interim I have managed to ascend to lead the corp strat team at my $800m division – so thanks for helping me to that. I was looking forward to the Big Data and Machine Learning study but just noticed today that these have been moved from EP to FCInsider. As these were a major reason I was continuing to subscribe, I’m interested to know if they will be available to Executive members.

Thanks for the email. For now only FC Insiders can access locked content on the Apps. We will eventually roll out access within the App to TCO, EP and Premium members, but for now you will only be able to access content on the site.

Kris. Good morning. I am a Premium Member since yesterday and my ID is apps.sanjeethshetty. While I can access premium content on the website, I can’t do so on my iPad or iPhone mobile apps. I have tried all possible options including resetting passwords. Can you help please? Thanks.

Thanks for your question and for being such a loyal member. Remember to sign-up to attend our live events (above) if you are in the US between September and January.

The easiest way is to download our App and login using your Firmsconsulting.com site credentials. If you can get in, you have FC Insider status. I have checked online and you are part of the this elite membership level.

The contents for FC Insiders will change monthly as we release new content to FC Insider. We are launching 14 shows exclusively to FC Insiders but these come out on a schedule of 1 new show a month. They are not all released together. So look above to see the dates when new content is coming out and also wait for our emails. We send out emails when new content is released.

Yes, the complimentary Corporate Strategy & BU Strategy audio podcasts are different from the very, very detailed videos and power points on that very same study that are available to EP subscribers. That is by design since the podcast are complimentary and a very simplified version of the study.

The Corporate Strategy Study videos will be released before the Phase 2 videos of the study are released. Though, the detailed partner explanations of the Implementation phase will be released before the Corporate Strategy Videos are fully released. The Corporate Strategy Study is very large and we will not be able to release all the videos much earlier. It is 3x larger than any other study we have ever done.

Our studies have typically take 1 year to release so while the Corporate Strategy and BU study will not take 3 years, since it is 3x larger, it will take longer than 1 year given the sheer size of the content.

Hi Michael How i can get the info that my FC Insider status is active ? I have been subscribed to Premium program since Feb. I download the Strategy Skill app on my mobile and tablet last month before my sixth consecutive month subscription to Premium program. The contents I saw before the sixth month are the same which I am finding on the app after my sixth month subscription. Also the complimentary training on Corporate Strategy & BU Strategy has around 58 podcasts but these are different than those which are on the website uploaded till week 3. I want to know whether all the 680 videos of the Corporate Strategy & BU Strategy study will be uploaded first before the Phase 2 implementation of the same.

That is not yet an option. Provided your credit card is valid on the site you need not worry about internet access since the card can be processed even when you are offline.

We may consider this option though and post an update when it is ready. Although that is unlikely since this is a loyalty reward program for clients who enjoy the program and want to take the time to use the material.

Hi Michael I just want to know is there any option that FC Insiders pay their monthly subscription fee as 6 month or 12 month package so that they may avoid the risk of FC Insider status discontinuity in case if any month they did not access the site due to any reason or are in a remote location where they may not have Internet access all the time.

Through the TCO subscription you will have access to Seasons 1,2 and 3 to watch all those students being trained for case interviews. There are also solution videos and many other support items. All the training is done by ex-partners.

Hi Michael, Never mind. I re-read the email. That said, will we eventually be able to access FC insider information on line rather than through our phones? I tend to look at FC material on my computer rather than on my phone. Others may as well.

FC Insider will go live on the first Monday of July. We will notify all FC Insiders at that time and when you qualify for the level from that point onward, you will also receive an email notice outlining how to access the content on the site.

The most important thing to remember is nothing changes for current TCO and EP members. This does not change the significant content we make available nor plan to make available to those valued members. We are not stopping any content from those membership levels. TCO is easily the largest and most effective case training library with over 500 videos. EP contains over 700 videos on strategy skills and will reach 1,200 videos once the current study is uploaded. There are no peers in terms of providing the viewpoints of McKinsey, BCG et al partners. And we will continue adding to this.

We will continue to release free podcasts through our two podcast channels. We release 2 podcasts a week which is over 100 a year. Both of those iTunes channels are ranked in the Top 20 for careers worldwide.

All of the above does not change.

Firmsconsulting Insider is a reward for members whom have already or have planned to be longtime subscribers. That is the singular goal of this program. That is why the status is only activated after 6 months. Making it immediately available seems like a nice idea, but actually removes any special benefit to long-term members. Our goal is to reward the most loyal members.

When a reward is given away too easily, it is not valued. It becomes a commodity. And the content in Insider is unique.

Most premium members are already very long-term members so will not be impacted by the 6 month wait. They are already pre-qualified.

The launch for Insider will be before the activation period if you sign up now. In other words, it will be well before the 6 month mark from now. That means if you sign up now you will still need to wait a few more months after it is activated. And if you sign up later you will need to wait for at least 6 months.

In other words this program targets our already sizable premium community who are qualified. If other members do not migrate to this level, that is perfectly fine. We will continue to serve EP and TCO members with significant new content as described above. This is not a program to force a migration between membership levels. This is a genuine reward.

If members only want access to TCO and EP, they can simply subscribe to those membership levels separately. They need not access premium or wait for FC Insider. We have always had this option and it will remain.

In terms of knowing the content to be released in Insider, we will send updates on each program so you will know what is there.

TCO III and other shows have been delayed a little but not by much. They will come out soon enough but we would rather not post a launch date, in the event we miss the target.

When is the planned launch of FC Insider? I’m assuming if people sign up to Premium tier today, they will get Insider access in 6 months time?

Perhaps as an introductory offer you could expedite Insider access and give it to Premium subscribers immediately if available or as soon as it’s released. With immediate access, people can decide if this is something they want to use/can actually use (time constraints etc.) – as opposed to subscribing to Premium for 6 months when you only want access to TCO or EP, getting Insider access and then deciding in the first month you don’t want it.

You could offer an immediate upgrade for the next week or so, and thereafter subscribers will have to wait for 6 months to get Insider access.

Your thoughts?

On a separate note, when are ‘TCO III’ and ‘First 90 Days’ coming out? I was under the impression FC was releasing these programs in Jan/Feb. What are the new planned/expected release dates?